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How to Fix: Page Unresponsive Error in Edge

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  • 7 min read

The Microsoft Edge browser often breaks due to Page Unresponsive error. It also displays the button to either Wait or Exit Pages that are unresponsive. The error is primarily due to low memory and processing power to render the website page and tab. We can clear the browsing data, kill unnecessary processes, and upgrade the RAM (if running low) to suppress the issue.

Once Microsoft adopted the Chromium source code, many users quickly jumped from Google’s offering to Edge. One primary reason was that the latter doesn’t hog as many system resources as the former.

Instead, more often than not, there is a fluid and streamlined browsing experience on the cards. However, in recent times, Edge seems to have unfortunately taken a page or two out of Chrome’s book.

Page Unresponsive error with Wait and Exit Pages button on Edge Chromium browser

There have been numerous complaints from users that they tend to get greeted with the Page Unresponsive Error while accessing a particular site. When that happens, the page either takes ages to load or, even worse, wouldn’t load. Sometimes, it even tends to slow down the entire browser.

Furthermore, there’s also a Wait button and Exit pages just beneath that pop-up error message, but it doesn’t seem to be of any good either. The wait would take an eternity, but there’s no guarantee page would load.

If you are also getting bugged by this issue, then fret not. This guide has shared a few handy methods to help you fix the Page Unresponsive Error in Edge.

Check Network Connection

Before moving ahead with any other workarounds, you need to make sure that you have robust internet connectivity.

You may try switching from the wireless (Wi-Fi) to the wired mode (Ethernet) or share your device’s internet via USB Tethering or Hotspot. Try out these network tweaks and see if the issue gets rectified.

Close Background Apps

If many apps and their services run in the background, it can slow down your PC. It would then automatically result in the sluggish behavior of the installed apps as well.

So consider closing down all those apps that are consuming many system resources. For that, launch the Task Manager in Windows OS via Ctrl + Shift + Esc shortcut key combinations and refer to the Memory section.

Mac OS users can use a similar app known as Activity Monitor to kill the processes.

End Microsoft Edge Task from Windows Task Manager

Look out for the apps that are hogging resources, and it’s better to close them via the End Task button. Once processes are killed, try accessing the website via Microsoft Edge and check whether the Page Unresponsive Error has been fixed.

Clear Cache

Caches are temporary browser data, which will keep on getting accumulated over the due course of time if left as it is. And as you might have guessed, this would lead to a slow browsing experience.

Hence it is always recommended to delete them after regular intervals, like every month or two.

Here are the steps to clear the cache in Microsoft Edge computer:

  1. Launch Microsoft Edge on the computer
  2. Keypress the Ctrl / Cmd + Shift + Del keys to bring up the Clear Browsing Data menu.
  3. Enable the checkbox for the Cached images and files option.
  4. Hit the Clear now button.
    Clear Cache and Image files from the Microsoft Edge browser

Once the cache is clear, restart the browser. Check if it fixes the underlying issue.

After the deletion of the cache, the browser would have to load the sites from scratch. Hence you might notice a delay of a couple of seconds. Well, this is just a one-time delay and shouldn’t be any cause for concern.

Disable Third-Party Cookies

Cookies store browsing-related data, but as with cache, the browser might become a tad slower in carrying out its daily activities if it keeps getting accrued. In this regard, you could consider disabling the cookies by browsing in Private Mode.

Launch the Microsoft Edge browser in Private Mode

Launch Edge and hit the Ctrl / Cmd + Shift + N shortcut keys. This shall launch a new safe mode window with the cookies disabled.

Now try loading the desired website and verify whether the Edge’s Page Unresponsive Error has been rectified.

Disable Extensions

The number of add-ons you install would directly impact the browser’s performance. Therefore, keeping these extensions at the absolute minimum is recommended, with only the most important ones getting an abode onto your PC.

We would advise you to disable all the extensions until you rectify the problem with the page loading.

Here are the steps to disable the extensions in the Microsoft Edge browser:

  1. Launch the Microsoft Edge chromium on the computer.
  2. Open the URL edge://extensions/ in the address bar.
    It will open the Extensions page in the Edge browser.
  3. Toggle to turn off the installed extensions.
    Disable the Browser extensions in Microsoft Edge browser
  4. Enable them one by one until you can recreate the issue.

Once you get hold of the issue-causing extension, removing it from your browser is better. Browser extensions, no doubt, add more features to the browser, but if it proves to be the root cause of an issue, then there’s no point in keeping it installed.

Reset Edge to Default

If none of those mentioned steps yielded any fruitful results, you should consider resetting the browser to its factory settings.

Doing so will delete cookies, disable extensions, and clear all your pinned tabs, but your data (bookmarks, passwords, etc.) will remain secure.

Here are the steps to reset the Microsoft Edge browser to default settings:

  1. Launch the Microsoft Edge computer browser.
  2. Click on the More horizontal 3dots icon for options menu.
  3. Select the Settings menu from the menu list.
    Microsoft Edge Settings menu
  4. Switch to the Reset Settings tab from the left sidebar.
  5. Click on the Restore settings to their default values.
    Reset the Microsoft Edge Browser on Computer
  6. Hit Reset in the confirmation dialog box, and wait for the process to complete.

Once done, restart the browser, and Reset would have rectified the issue with the Page being Unresponsive.

Bottom Line: Edge Browser Page Unresponsive

So with this, we round off the guide on fixing the Page Unresponsive Error in the Microsoft Edge browser. We have shared six different fixes for the same. You can try one or more of the mentioned solutions, and we are sure it will fix the underlying issue.

In my case, closing some of the background apps and removing a JavaScript add-on rectified this issue.

Please let us know in the comments section which spelled out success for you in fixing the Page Unresponsive error message in the Microsoft Edge chromium browser.

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